INTERNATIONAL CHESS MASTERS SHOW UP IN THE PANAMA PAPERS

As we reported in detail, yesterday, the affluent clients who used the Panama city law firm of Mossack Fonseca were, more often than not, individuals in a wide variety of endeavors and industries, and most of them were not Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).  Data from the Panama Papers  continues to expose yet additional categories of tax cheats and money launderers.

Grand Masters, many of whom were, at one time, world champions, of chess, went to Mossack Fonseca, or other offshore corporate service providers, for anonymous, bearer-share companies, for obvious reasons. Some of the names that have appeared, either directly as clients, or indirectly, as corporate officers, are Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, and Anna Burtasova.

Additionally, organizations involved with world-class chess have showed up in the Panama Papers, leading to a presumption that dodgy efforts, to conceal income from the taxman, on the part of Mossack and Fonseca were at work. As the analysis of the Panama Papers continues, you can expect more surprises to emerge, as heretofore unknown groups of wealthy businessmen, and even types that you least expect, show up as Mossack Fonseca clients, not just as purchasers of offshore corporations, but individuals whom Mossack opened accounts for, at known Panamanian money laundering banks.